Three More Fires Under The Rim

U.S. Forest Service officials in Phoenix said Tuesday that three small fires that started in the Tonto National Forest Monday are still being monitored.

Emily Garber, Phoenix fire information officer for the Tonto National Forest, said that the Chase Fire, which burned four acres near the Control Road by Whispering Pines is contained.

A second fire, dubbed the Spring Fire, has burned a quarter of an acre by Horton Creek, a tributary to Tonto Creek, and is three miles north of Highway 260 and the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery.

Garber said three engine crews from the Forest Service worked on the Spring Fire Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Another fire that started in the Coconino National Forest crept onto the steep slopes of the Rim and spread into the Tonto National Forest. Garber said Coconino Forest Service crews are monitoring the two-acre Patton Fire and are fighting it from the air, dropping water on it from helicopters.

"All three of these are human-caused," Garber said. "We've had no reports of lightning in any of these."

Forest Service officials are investigating the causes of the Chase, Spring and Patton fires, as well as the Coon Creek Fire, which has burned more than 6,300 acres near Roosevelt Lake.